Earlier this month, Bank of America participated in the 2014 Investor Summit on Climate Risk, as the “convening sponsor” of the event. While there was a lot of talk about the urgency of the problem of tackling climate change, there were a few things the bank didn’t talk about. For starters, their role in financing the coal industry.

The Thun Group was formed when a group of banks came together in May 2011 in Thun, Switzerland,to discuss what the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) may mean for the banking sector. In October 2013 the group issued a discussion paper supported by seven international banks. Although no consultation of civil society has taken place and although the two-year process that led to the Thun group discussion paper seemed to constitute a “managing down” of expectations BankTrack welcomed the Thun Group’s paper as an important step. At the Business and Human Rights Forum of early December 2013 in Geneva BankTrack presented an analysis of the discussion paper that is summarized below.